Fire Nation's Secret History
by Ursa's number one fan
Summary: and now you know the rest of the story one shot


Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the last airbender.

Fire Nation: The Secret History

A scribe was sent for. The Fire Lord's mother, the former Lady of the Nation, was ill, dying, one of her last requests was for a scribe, and a couple hours alone with the scribe. She didn't care which scribe, just one who could write well. The Fire Lord knew that his mother was dying, that she wanted to record the history she knew before passing. He sent the scribe the master scholar said would not be missed.

The scribe was a young fellow, normally very self possessed and confident, despite his youth and inexperience. He decided that he must have been selected because of his fine handwriting, he knew his style required exquisite, maybe even royal, taste to fully appreciate; he felt vindicated for being chosen for such an illustrious task despite the horrid, barely passing, marks he received on his qualification exam.

The old woman's room, albeit large and rich in furnishing, was dimly lit- light bothered her. The scribe entered hesitantly, unsure of where the former Lady was, squinting to see.

"Physician, you may have your leave, the scribe has arrived," a voice crackled harshly. "I will send for you when I am done or sooner if I have need of you. Scribe, why do you stand there gaping? Come closer so I don't have to yell so loudly."

The physician left, the guards closed the doors to the room and stood guard outside. The scribe took his papers and pens out and set them up at a table by the large bed with the dying woman. He momentarily considered asking her if she wanted him to use any special inks or papers, but decided that if she had wanted them he would have been told. He tried hard not to smile with pride when he announced that he was ready to begin.

The woman frowned. "Scribe, you will write what I dictate. You will write all of what I say, you will not comment on it or ask for clarification."

"Yes, your majesty, of course," the scribe felt his face glow red with embarrassment.

"I, the wife of the late Lord Ifari, mother of General Iroh and Lord Ozai, am disclosing, for the future, the history of the royal family of the Fire Nation during my time.

"A year after I entered the royal family through my marriage to Lord Ifari, it was during the forth year of rule of his older brother, I gave birth to my first born, a son named Iroh. Iroh was a strong healthy baby- and for that I was grateful, but I was concerned about how small he was, what kind of a warrior he'd make. My husband was pleased to have an heir.

"For ten years we lived happily. Lord Ifari's father had a very long life, we were not expecting Lord Ifari to ever have to take up the throne. When his brother fell in battle, no one was more shocked, more saddened than Lord Ifari.

"When we came to terms with what was going to be, we decided that we should produce another heir, so that we could ensure our family would retain its position. Ten years after the birth of Iroh, I gave birth to Ozai. Ozai was born under very powerful stars, more so than his brother. It was obvious to me, at that time, that Ozai would be the one to follow in his father's footsteps." The woman paused to reflect briefly. The scribe was bitting the inside of his lip to keep awake. He decided that maybe, just maybe, the head scholar knew how boring this would be.

"Iroh was grateful that Ozai showed promise as a fighter and as a fire bender. Iroh had two passions as a youth: traveling, and board games. When he reached manhood, he was given commandership of a naval section, to do scouting. The general he worked under had a daughter, a young woman, who bewitched Iroh with her beauty. Iroh attempted to win her favor by writing her letters and bringing her trinkets from the exotic places he passed through. I tried to warn him that that girl was no good, but young men rarely listen to their mothers when in love," the woman sighed.

"When Lord Ifari fell ill both of his sons came home, Iroh, being a dutiful son, arrived first. The physicians failed to cure my late husband and he passed on. Both of the princes were loved by the people. To determine which one would succeed their father's throne, a duel was held. Because both were popular, the fight would not be to the death, but whomever lost would be required to swear loyalty to the winner.

"Iroh lost, he was distracted, looking around for that woman, she didn't go to watch him as he had asked her to. It was a calculated move on her part, she already had her eye on the throne by that time. It didn't matter to her who won, she just wanted to make sure she had the winner.

"Ozai was worse at seeing through the woman, Zara. It was no sooner than the next day she arrived in court, wearing her finest, to congratulate the new Lord. Ozai is a good warrior and a good king, but not very good at romance. She had Ozai spellbound and they were wedded in a years time, despite my protests.

"Iroh, devastated by the betrayal of Zara before hearing of the wedding left. He lead the siege on Ba Sing Se, which lasted six hundred days. When he returned he was shocked to find that Zara had married his brother.

"Fate did not smile on Zara anymore than I did, she was barren for the first five years. When Zara finally did manage to produce a child, it was a girl. I advised my son that a first born son would be a better show of strength. He refused to even hear of it at first. Later he let me know that Zara convinced him to let her keep the girl-child, blackmailed him was more like it. They tried for a male heir several times, with no success, it seemed that it became a yearly problem that had to be dealt with.

"Zara knew that the Lord needed a male heir, and that only girls from the union with her husband. She devised a plot to deceive and use my other son Iroh, to create an 'heir' to avoid the looming doom of divorce," the old woman said nonchalantly. The scribe raised his eyebrow, maybe this wasn't the most boring assignment ever. The woman continued, without a pause.

"Zara went absent from her chambers one night, returned early the next morning, around nine months later, she gave birth to her first son. The king accepted Zuko, as his own son and heir unknowing of the child's true parentage. Only after the Lord had grown attached to the boy did Zara tell him the truth.

"When Ozai threatened to make his wife's infidelity known, Zara threatened to bring him down with her. She convinced the poor man that she did him a favor, by producing a male, it ended the gossip of his inability to father a son. She claimed that, while the child wasn't his, that it was Iroh's, although that claim can never be validated, and that the child would allow the family to retain the position.

"After that Lord Ozai grew distant from his son. Iroh, realizing he was duped into playing a role in that sorted mess, tried to play a part, a small part, in Zuko's upbringing. He realized all too easily that Zuko idealized the man who he believed was his father, while it pained him to hide the truth from the boy, he realized it was for the best. Iroh always indulged the boy, probably out of guilt.

"When Zuko started to approach the age of maturity, Iroh allowed him access to a meeting of the generals. Not content to observe, Zuko spoke out, allowing Lord Ozai to take out years of anger at him. He tried to dual the boy a chance to destroy the illegitimate heir; however, the boy refused to fight. Lord Ozai banished him then, as he was unable to bring himself to deal with the boy directly. General Iroh approached his brother to try to change his mind; however, Ozai was not going to feel pity for the bastard he was forced to treat as his own or his brother who father that boy. Lord Ozai warned Iroh that if he protests his decision, the truth may come to light, and coerced him into leaving.

"Now, rumors have it that General Iroh found Zuko and is looking out for him. That he convinced the young man to try and meet his father's demand of the Avatar, and not plan a rebellion. Meanwhile, domestically, things aren't going as well. Assuming Prince Zuko will never be able to fulfill the order, Commander Zhao has starting courting Zara's eldest daughter, Hana, who is about to come of age. Zhao is an ambitious arrogant man, unfortunately my son, Ozai, only sees the man's excellent military record," the old woman finished. "Scribe, now seal the paper with wax, my stamp is on that table, put them in the box over to your left and seal that with wax as well."

When the scribe had finished sealing the box, she picked a bell up and rang it, signaling for the servants to return.

"May I ask a question?" the scribe boldly asked.

"Yes, but be quick about it," the old lady said sharply. She could afford to indulge the lad, but only briefly.

"Is that all true?" he asked, wide-eyed. He heard the doors opening, and guessed that he might not get his answer, since the material was confidential.

"Yes," the woman, and then pointed at the scribe. The armed guard ran his blade through the scribe, unfortunately getting blood on the box. The guard then picked up the body and took it away. The other guard took the box.


End file.
